Private home sales plunge 16% in June

This is the worst month in 2012.

According to a release by PropNex Realty, June private home sales (including ECs) plunged 16% M-on-M to 1,725 units transacted. When ECs are excluded, a total of 1,371 units were snapped up last month, marking the lowest number of transactions in 2012. Even with this plunge in sales volume, developers have sold an exceptional 14,689 private homes (including ECs) in the first six months of 2012 – well exceeding the 9,446 racked up at the same time last year.

“It is not surprising to see the decline in private housing transactions last month due to the lowest new project launches in June. This had left homebuyers with lesser choices,” remarked Mr Mohamed Ismail, CEO of PropNex Realty.

In June, the majority of transactions came from projects in the Outside Central Region (OCR), with three projects having sold over a total of 719 units: River Isles sold 263 units at a median price of $835psf, Sea Esta sold 255 units at a median price of $906psf, and Watercolours (EC) sold 201 units at a median price of $735psf.
Despite falling by 16% M-on-M in the overall transaction volume in June, the OCR continued to enjoy strong sales activity, with total sales reaching 1,465 units, the sixth consecutive month where sales have been in excess of 1,000 units since December 2011.

“Homebuyers are now more cautious in their home buys as they are more price-sensitive these days. Gone are the days that buyers are picking up their homes without careful considerations. Developers should be delighted if they could sell 50% of their project within the first month,” remarked Mr Ismail.